Crumbs: REVIEWS » Other Reviews » Parks and Recreation » Bowling for Votes
Login/Register
58
/100

Other Reviews
56
/100

Episode 413 - Bowling for Votes

27 January 2012

Review

Credit NBC

This was a decent election campaign story. There's something about Leslie that doesn't lead to the kind of comedy that I think works. There was an episode of Frasier (323) where he obsessed over one comment in this same way. I don't remember it as a great episode but there was something more amusing and understandable about him being unable to let one opinion go. Similarly Michael Scott was the kind of character whose attempts to persuade people of something could be really funny.

I don't dislike Leslie at all, nor do I think there was anything wrong with this story. But I don't find her funny. Her manic preparation to win one man over made sense but seeing them bowl together felt flat. Her straightforward pally routine was predictable and never found a punch line. I think the fact that everything always turns out well for Leslie kind of kills the comedy. There was no sense here that her meddling was actually going to hurt her campaign. As you might expect the voters of Pawnee were soon won over when they got to see her being herself. Again I have nothing against Ben punching the guy and no argument with that being a plausible vote winner, it just wasn't funny.

Some other things were though. Ron had a strong episode with his disgust at the two handed bowling method working. I also enjoyed his declaration that "When I eat it is the food that's scared." Andy was fun too, particularly when he and Chris laughed at the same joke (about fund raising being dull) for opposite reasons. The phone calls led to some simple comedy and April being nice to Chris was straightforward.

Feedback

Add your comments on this episode below. They may be included in the weekly podcasts.

Post your comment

Comments

  • I agree with all of that. I thought the B & C plots were fine.

    I think my position with Parks and Rec is affected by the high critical opinion it is held in by some (e.g. Sepinwall). I genuinely enjoy the show but don't think it's as good as some.

    I don't think it's as funny or quite as engaging as the Office was during its peak. So in my reviews I'm constantly addressing this question in my head of why I don't rate it as highly as others.

    The character of Leslie is one of those factors. But I should stress that I don't dislike the character or the performance. I like her and think she does fine.

    Posted by The TV Critic, 29/01/2012 12:14am (25 days ago)

  • For me I don't need every story (or character) within an episode to be funny. I think Leslie, especially this season, is serving well as the driving force behind plot movement. In a lesser show like The Office, the characters would have just gone bowling because someone had the idea for a BOWL-A-RAMA-PARTY!!!@1211!!!!

    But here we at least have a plausible reason week in and week out for our episodes to take place out of the Parks and Rec office. The campaign has expanded the world of Parks and Recreation and is allowing them to make episodes like this. I think the background knowledge of Leslie as ultra competitive and also ultra tuned in to what people think of her makes for a satisfying reason as to why she would fixate on this one guy who said something as meaningless as she doesn't seem like someone you can bowl with. I think it's a fair character statement to start with Leslie literally wanting every single voter in Pawnee to like her and vote for her, but then needing to learn the lesson that it's not possible or necessary.

    Also I thought this was a great use of characters in the B and C plots in minimal capacity, but to maximum effect. In a lesser show, like The Office, the attempted humor would be coming from the side characters saying outlandish things or having crazy reactions to something. Here we get simple, effective and true to character humor from Ron, Tom, Andy, April, Jerry, Donna, etc.

    My best example of this is a line from Donna when she's on the phone with a potential campaign donor, "Absolutely nothing, what are you wearing?" It didn't crack me up or leave me thinking she was the best character eve created, but it was true to who we know Donna to be, made me chuckle, and kept the comedic flow of the episode going. Parks and Recreation is good at playing "the long game" in this way. Have your characters service your show, but don't hang them out to dry in an attempt to squeeze laughter from your audience.

    Sorry for the blatant potshots at The Office. Can you tell I'm bitter that it's so bad now? :P

    Posted by Brando, 27/01/2012 3:46pm (27 days ago)

RSS feed for comments on this page | RSS feed for all comments